The 10 places readers checked out most often on Portland Food Map in January were:
The numbers in parentheses indicates their rank last month.
Today’s Press Herald includes a report on Cellardoor Winery’s plans to open a 5,000 square foot tasting room and retail store at Thompson’s Point.
The satellite location will be known as Cellardoor at the Point and will host wine tastings, dinners, cooking classes, food-and-wine pairings and other special events. It also will have retail space for selling the company’s “Cellardoor at Home” product line, which includes jams and jellies, oils, vinegars, desserts, syrups and other food products.
Cellardoor joins Oxbow and Sweetgrass as Mid-Coast food enterprises that have opened Portland locations to better connect with the Southern Maine locals and tourists to the area.
Update: for additional information see this report from the Urban Eye.
Maine a la Carte has posted information on two new restaurants under development:
The Press Herald has reviewed Maps Cafe,
But there’s a distinct charm to Maps that will compete with other Portland bars, no matter what. In addition to their on-the-money grilled cheeses, Walker wakes up early most days to bake one of her grandmother’s cake recipes. She’d often bake with her grandma as a girl, and cake at the bar was another European element Walker wanted to play up. The carrot cake has become a customer favorite.
and Peter Peter Portland Eater has reviewed Bao Bao.
After all was said and eaten, were quite pleased. Our food came to 46 bucks with tax and tip. It seemed quite reasonable for 24 dumplings, a slaw, and a glass of wine. I found the Kung Pau the most tasty, but all of our food was very good. I definitely recommend Bao Bao if you love dumplings.
The American Journal has a report on a new Freeport-based business called Bugs for Dinner.
Bill Broadbent, 54, his family and friends made that point and more last Saturday at the Freeport Community Library, as they invited everyone to snack on cricket cookies, energy bars and chocolate-covered crickets. The occasion was a website launch for BugsForDinner.com, which he created and hopes will lead to an insect-farming operation later this year.
There are 20+ restaurants and other food-related businesses currently under development in Portland and new ventures are being announced all the time. The demand for vacant restaurants and retail space remains quite high. So, once again, I’ve put together this list of retail spaces to help out anyone who’s searching for real estate to get their new venture off the ground.
If there are any good spots I’ve overlooked give a shout out in the comments or email me at anestes@portlandfoodmap.com and I’ll add them to the list.
Old Port
Art District
West End
Bayside
East End/Washington Ave/India St
Other
Some of the best spots out there aren’t officially on the market. If there’s a space you’re interested in, it never hurts to talk with the current occupant and see if you can work out a deal that they’re happy with. They move to another address and you get the perfect location for your business.
Give a shout out in the comments or email me at anestes@portlandfoodmap.com if there are any additional properties I’ve overlooked and I’ll add them to the list.
Eater Maine has published an interview with Rob Tod, founder of Allagash Brewing.
When you started the company in 1995, legend has it you couldn’t give Allagash White away in bars because of the public’s and the industry’s unfamiliarity with Belgian styles. What was the worst response you got?
I used to walk into bars and restaurants with samples and the first thing they said is, “What’s wrong with it?” That was the common response. I got used to it. You just spend time trying to educate people: “Hey, this is a traditional Belgian style beer. It’s supposed to be cloudy ’cause it’s unfiltered and that contributes a lot to the quality of the beer.” Even if I could talk someone into a draft line it was generally the worst selling one. Accounts weren’t familiar with the beer and neither were customers. It was a long slow grind, the first ten years. Probably the first twelve years, really.
A new Portland delivery service called Cartender(website, facebook, 207-200-3125) launched yesterday. Cartender has partnered with Old Port Spirits to “deliver beer, wine, spirits, and mixers to your door”. Cartender operates 7 days a week: 4-8pm M-Th, 3-8 on Fri, and 12-8 on the weekends.
For more information read this article on Active Beer Geek,
Have you ever been sitting in your apartment in Portland and wanted a beer but didn’t want to go anywhere? Jim O’Brien and Scott Nevers has created a service that was perfectly designed for that occasion, Cartender. It’s a delivery service that brings beer, wine, spirits and mixers to your Portland residence. You place your order online and they drive it to you.
A few Portland eateries are still scheduled to be open today. Here are the one’s I’ve heard about:
If you hear of any others, let me know and I’ll add them to the list.
WBUR has posted an article on Vinland.
David Levi is the brain behind Vinland. His food is 100 percent locally produced. Every leaf, every grain, every fish — is from Maine or pretty darn close. Going hyper local in Southern California is one thing. Doing it here, where the growing season is 156 days long, seems like a risky business plan.
“It forces us to be creative,” says Levi. “It’s like I’m writing a sonnet. I only have so many syllables in this line; I have to come up with something other than my first inclination.”